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ONE PUB ONLY?
Blue Coat
CRAWLING FROM RAILWAY STATION TO THE GROUND?
The pub is close to the station so the circular route will take in The Clifton, Hare and Hounds and Blue Coat
SOMETHING A LITTLE DIFFERENT?
Sheffield
|  |  Blue Coat
The Crofts, Moorgate, S60 2DJ Telephone 01799 539500 W www.jdwetherspoon.co.uk
G John Wall
F Traditional pub food from sandwiches to steaks plus curry nights 9 to 11
MP D
O 9 to 12 Sun - Thu, 9 to 1 Fri – Sat
This is no ordinary version Wetherspoons but one with a well deserved reputation for good ale and quality knowledgeable service. The team are all CAMRA members and I am assured that the beer selection is innovative and constantly changing. When I visited all beers were on offer and the staff certainly impress with their enthusiasm for the trade. You know the design features, save to say it rambles over different levels and is a pub rescued from a nightclub existence. I will be back to this one, perhaps drinking in the planned beer garden or maybe listening to live music, well that would certainly be different.
UPDATE: This is the local CAMRA Pub of the year for 2006. Jazz has arrived on Monday nights, sometimes with John on Trombone. Four beers rotated while I visited over a lunch time such is the popularity of the beer selections. Watch out for the specialist beer festivals (fruit in August etc.) The improvement has also spread to the Rhino, the alternative ‘spoons in town.
BWV 15.3.05: Acorn SPA, Caledonian Deuchars IPA. Eastwood Gold Award, Kelham Island Pale Rider, Marston’s Burton Bitter, Pedigree, Wentworth WPA, Bete Noire, Weston’s Old Rosie
BWV 9.5.06: Acorn POTY Time, Sovereign, Banks’s Chocolate Mild, Bullmastiff Son of a Bitch, Caledonian Dr. Bob’s Magic Potion, Everards Original, Marston’s Pedigree, Titanic Lifeboat | |  Chequers Inn
Pleasley Rd Whiston S60 4HB Telephone 01709 829168 W www.thechequerswhiston.co.uk
G New management
F "Good food served as fast as we can," all freshly sourced, home - cooked and very good value. 12 to 2, 4.30 to 7 Mon - Fri, 12 to 3 Sun
CP TV BM P D
O 12 to 11 Sun - Thu, 12 to 11.30 Fri – Sat
There were numerous recommendations that I should put this pub in the guide. I have no hesitation in doing so for it is indeed, a really good pub that has a good reputation for its very friendly, welcoming atmosphere. The Chequers is a large tavern, set back from the road and attractively redesigned to mix the modern, open - plan style with traditional beer and food values. It was voted local CAMRA pub of the season for Spring 2006 no doubt in part due to the policy of regularly rotating the ales around TT Landlord. I made my two visits .returning because I liked the place so much. It offers both space for large groups and intimacy when groups congregate in the tap room for a football match on the TV or to play darts. It also has a pool area, raised above the general level.
The food certainly made an impression on me. The regulars come from long distances to the Chequers. At the risk of being a beer estate agent, the village of Whiston is a high value location, three great pubs and a really pleasant semi - rural environment. Tony has created a good real ale house in his short time here. It is how the suburban family orientated beer and food pub should be, having good quality and ample choice in both beer and nosh. It isn’t a typical football pub but it is well worth a pre - match pint.
BWV 9.5.06: Bateman XXXB, Timothy Taylor Landlord, Tetley’s Cask Bitter, Dark Mild, Wells Bombardier | |  Clifton Hotel
105 Old Clifton Rd S65 2AW Telephone 01709 833070
G Joanne and Mark Kelly
SP TV JB P D
O 4 to 11.30 Mon - Thu, 12 to 12 Fri - Sat, 12 to 11.30 Sun
Rotherham’s real ale scene has improved dramatically in the last year or so, due in no small part to landlords such as Joanne and “Arnie” who are introducing local drinkers to a wider range of ales. John at the Blue Coat pointed the way up the hill to the Earth Stadium, opposite which you will find the Clifton.
It is a grand old street - corner hotel with quite a history if you believe the regulars. You know when you have found something special when a chat with the landlady soon develops into a really pleasant group discussion with the locals who draw new arrivals in to the chat to add their two pennyworth. Jo introduced “24 year old” Billy who in turn brought in Dave and soon the stories of the pubs’ past came out. Tales of a town gaol house with gallows for the sinners on the rugby field over the road merged with recollections of a more recent gentlemen only room. The ex MP lauded the pub recently, no doubt he agreed with its award of CAMRA Pub of the season for spring 2006. The pub is obviously very busy when the Titans play. It is a good twenty minute down hill walk to the ground but conveniently this will take in the other town recommendations en route. On other days it will be music and then general knowledge quizzes to entertain, plus the social club style check night on a Sunday. This gives the biggest clue as to how this is a proper locals pub where the pub becomes the centre of the community in which it is placed. One can only predict that the future is bright for this boozer.
BWV 9.5.06: Greene King Old Speckled Hen, Stones Bitter, Wadworth 6X | |  Golden Ball
7 Turners Lane Whiston S60 4HY Telephone 01709 726910 w www.emberinns.co.uk/thegoldenballrotherham/findus
G Paul Froggatt
F Extensive menu to suit all tastes from traditional to international 12 to 9
CP BM D
O 11.30 -11 Sun - Thu, 11.30 - 12 Fri – Sat
Continuing my rather unusual entry for Rotherham I followed the advice of all I met in town, and travelled out to this pretty village near to the M1. There are three ale houses in the village but it was the Golden Ball that caught my eye. This is a typical Ember Inns refurbished pub, but the quality of the ale is what makes it memorable. The pub has a high “Your Mother in Law would like it factor” but there were plenty of variety in the lunchtime eating crowd. This is a real pub, with plenty of space for the restaurant style trade. I would recommend a trip here, combine it with lunch and even consider catching the bus into town (The No 34, every 15 minutes, plus others from opposite the Chequers).
UPDATE: Joanne is the new boss and the pub appears even busier than last year. I chatted with Heather outside over a great beer about the possibilities for a repaint in the next year. It was very much a business lunch session. The pub now holds popular real ale festivals.
BWV 15.3.05: Adnams Broadside, Greene King IPA Shepherd Neame Spitfire. Stones Bitter, Tetley’s Cask Bitter, Timothy Taylor Landlord
BWV 8.5.06: Bass Draught, Caledonian Deuchars IPA, Timothy Taylor Landlord, Tetley’s Cask Bitter | |  Hare and Hounds
52 Wellgate S60 2LR Telephone 01799 821554
G Carol Mills
F Home cooked, traditional pub food 11.30 to 2 Mon - Fri
MP SK BM P
O 11.30 to 11, 11.30 to 10.30 Sun
The Hare and Hounds is a rescued pub. Closed and derelict in the recent past, it is now building a reputation as the rare Rotherham feature, a real ale pub. It was a very pleasant visit, the spirit of warmth and friendship coming instantly to the fore. The pub is very much a community pub with regulars who form very different groups at different times of the day. My lunchtime visit found the football highlights being shown on Sky TV while others were chatting or reading papers over a quiet lunchtime pint. The pub does get quite busy and the beer garden acts as overspill on summer days. I didn’t meet the landlord that day as he had organised a trip for locals to the Bateman brewery, top geezer. Greene King ales come as norm, supplemented by national guest ales carefully selected to meet the locals taste. This is the best non - chain option in town; if only the demand from the locals was such that others could experience the delights that the variety of real ale could offer.
UPDATE: The pub was equally friendly when I visited again this year. It is totally unchanged and a popular locals’ recommendation.
BWV 15.3.05: Adnams Broadside, Greene King Abbot, Weston’s Cider
BWV 9.5.06: Adnams Explorer, Greene King Abbot | | | ROTHERHAM CAMRA | | 
DON VALLEY STADIUM | |  | | 
LOCAL BREWERY
Wentworth Brewery,
The Power House Gun Park
Wentworth
Rotherham
S62 7TF
Tel: 01226747070 | | WETHERSPOONS
The Bluecoat The Crofts Rotherham S60 2DJ Opening Times: Sun-Thu 9am-midnight; Fri/Sat 9am-1am
The Corn Law Rhymer 35-37 High Street Rotherham S60 1PT Opening Times: Sun-Thu 9am-midnight; Fri/Sat 9am-2am
The Rhinoceros 35-37 Bridgegate Rotherham S60 1PL Opening Times: Sun-Thu 9am-midnight; Fri/Sat 9am-1am
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